This invention relates to the production of phenolic resins, solids and foam products by the chemical reaction of a phenolic-type compound and a substituted organic compound containing hydroxyl or epoxy radicals in the presence of an alkali salt-forming compound. The product produced by this invention will be referred to as a phenolic resin.
Productions of phenolic resins are well known in the arts such as phenol-aldehyde, phenol-ketone, phenol-furfuryl alcohol and epoxy-polyhydric phenols. In the production of an epoxy resin utilizing a phenol, it is necessary to use a polyhydric phenol. In the process of this invention, a monohydric phenol is chemically reacted with a substituted organic compound containing a hydroxyl chlorohydrin, etc., in the presence of an alkali salt-forming compound, e.g., sodium hydroxide, thereby producing a novel phenolic resin. This process differs from other known methods because the substituted organic compound with hydroxyl or epoxy radical reacts with the hydroxyl radical of the phenol of one molecule and the benzene ring of another phenol molecule, thereby producing a solid resin. In other processes, the aldehyde and the ketones react with the benzene ring only and in producing epoxy where polyhydric phenols are used, the epichlorohydrin reacts only with the hydroxyl radicals on the phenol molecule.